Uber and GrabCar saw 60,000 registered drivers

The increasing number of ride-hailing in Malaysia has seen a skyrocketing number of people becoming service providers. The government estimated that around 50,000 to 60,000 people are believed to have registered with e-hailing applications such as Uber and GrabCar as drivers.

However, only 20% registered drivers were full-time, while the rest are part-timers who have permanent jobs, as indicated by minister of the prime minister’s department, Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong. “The vast majority of the drivers giving Uber and Grabcar administrations are concentrated in urban areas, for example, the Klang Valley and Penang,” he said in answer to a question at the Dewan Rakyat today.

Wee added that the bill to manage ride-hailing administrations will be tabled in Parliament in March next year. Once the bill is passed, ride-hailing administrations will be controlled by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

In August, SPAD laid out its arrangements to enhance the taxi business in Malaysia through the execution of the Cabinet-endorsed Taxi Industry Transformation Program (TITP). The program is equipped to direct e-hailing administrations (Uber/Grab), while giving existing taxicabs new chances to stay supportable and aggressive.

Right now, there are an expected 77,000 enrolled cab drivers across the nation. With the legitimization of ride-hailing administrations, around 150,000 new individual allow holders – involving Uber, Grab and ordinary taxi drivers – are relied upon to exist together in the following three years.